A knife-wielding man stabbed three people at Manchester’s Victoria Station in a horrifying attack on New Year’s Eve, according to local reports.
It has since been confirmed that an officer and a man and woman in their 50s were stabbed on the train platform by the suspect who was wielding a “long knife,” according to the Greater Manchester Police (GMP).
The victims have been taken to hospital with knife injuries and the suspect has been detained and questioned on suspicion of attempted murder, according to the police.
The man sustained injuries to his abdomen while the women sustained injuries to both her face and abdomen. The BTP officer sustained a stab wound to the shoulder. The GMP said in a press release that while the injuries were serious to all victims, they were not life-threatening.
“Feet from me, I was close to jumping on the tracks as attacker had long [sic] kitchen knife. Totally shaken. This is seriously messed up.”
Clack, 38, described the incident to Mirror Online: “I just heard this most blood curdling scream and looked down the platform.
“What it looked like was a guy in his 60s with a woman of similar age and another guy all dressed in black. It looked like they were having a fight but she was screaming in this blood curdling way.
“I saw police in high-viz come towards him.
“He came towards me. I looked down and saw he had a kitchen knife with a black handle with a good, 12 inch blade.
“It was just fear, pure fear ... I’m still shaking, The guy was feet from me with a knife in his hand. Never been so scared,” he added.
The woman, Rebekka, told Mirror Online: “I heard the most bloodcurdling scream I’ve ever heard and turned to see everyone running towards me.”
“Some guy told me to run. ‘Keep running’ was all he kept saying - ‘just keep running.’ I jumped off the tram track and started to run down the tram lines and hid behind some concrete slabs under one of the arches.
“I had no idea what had happened at this point, I was just really scared, I didn’t know if I was going to die.
“Eventually we walked back and I’d heard people were stabbed. It’s so sad, I just can’t understand how people can choose to hurt innocent people in this way.
“I’m in awe of the BTP [British Transport Police], as soon as I heard the screaming they were running to the scene to protect everyone. They are heroes.”
Rebekka added that she “just can’t stop replaying it” in her mind and that her “heart weeps for the people that did get hurt.”
British Transport Police and some Greater Manchester Police, as well as the North West Ambulance Service, remain on the scene. The station is on lockdown.
Assistant Chief Constable Rob Potts said of the incident, “There is currently no intelligence to suggest that there is any wider threat at this time.
“While we don’t yet know the full circumstances and are keeping an open mind, officers from Counter Terrorism Policing North West are leading on the investigation.
“This is to ensure we have all the expertise available to us and progress our investigation as soon as we possibly can.”
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